Aït Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Aït Ben Haddou is a fortified city, or ksar, situated in Souss-Massa-Drâa on a hill along the Ounila River and is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village on the other side of the river; however, eight families still live within the ksar which has no running water or electricity. The ksar is constructed in the adobe style using sand, clay, water and straw and repairs need to be made usually after heavy rain.

Aït Ben Haddou has been featured in a number of well known films such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Living Daylights, Kundun, Indiana Jones, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Prince of Persia.

We arranged a private car from Marrakech to visit Aït Ben Haddou, as part of a day trip through the Atlas Mountains to see Ouarzazate and the Atlas Film Studios nearby. There is no entry fee, however it is customary to take a guide, who can provide you with the history and local insight into Aït Ben Haddou. Our guide’s family is one of the eight families that continue to live in the ksar.

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

Another 2 hours drive from the peak of Atlas Mountains is Ouarzazate – its name comes from a Berber phrase meaning “without noise” or “without confusion” and it is often nicknamed ‘the door of the desert’ as it is the last outpost before the Sahara desert which is just south of the town.

The town is chiefly inhabited by Berber-speakers, who constructed many of the prominent kasbahs and buildings for which the area is known. It is home to the kasbah of Taourirt, which was the casbah of the former caïd and later owned by T’hami El Glaoui or the Lord of the Atlas. Thami was the pasha of Marrakech from 1912-1956 and was the chief of the Berber Glaoua tribe of the southern Atlas. He is most notorious for conspiring with the French rulers of Morocco to overthrow Sultan Mohammed V.

 

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

The Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

On the way to Ait Ben Haddou and Ourzazate we passed through the Atlas Mountains. We organised a private tour with our own chauffeur and highly recommend it over a group tour as you can stop anytime you want, travel at your own pace and we found our chauffeur to be very knowledgable about local artisans in the areas we visited.

There is only one road through the Atlas Mountains and it took about 3 hours to reach the summit, Col du Tischka at an altitude of 2260m. The terrain was rugged and the climate harsh but the landscape was undeniably beautiful.

At the summit you can visit a few local stalls selling pottery and an argan oil collective run by local women. We bought a few beautiful quartz geodes from a vendor (see picture below) – the naturally occurring colours – turquoise, orange/red, purple and a purple/green amethyst were incredible! Along the way, there were a number of vendors selling boucherouite rugs.

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Here’s a close up of the quartz geodes now decorating our home.

Atlas Mountains

Morocco

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

A few highlights from our trip to Morocco. We got lost in the souks of The Medina in Marrakech, traversed the Atlas Mountains to visit Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site which you’ll recognise in movies such as Prince of Persia, Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. The Atlas Studios was a 2 hour drive away near Ourzazate and is where films like Kundun and Jewel of the Nile were filmed. The Game of Thrones set was also nearby! We also did a day trip to visit Essaouira on the coast.